Every eight years, Venus, the planet of harmony and beauty takes a prolonged trip into the Underworld of Scorpio, where everything she stands for — from money to social skills to femininity — comes into question.

As she goes deeper, she leaves behind her jewels, her silks, her satin slippers, her smile, her silver laughter – until she is down to muscle and bone, gracile and strong.

But there’s more to this retrograde than a trip down below – and this is critical. After weeks in Scorpio, she goes back even further into her own sign Libra, where she will also spend a four weeks, the whole of November, reviewing just what makes her strong – beauty, harmony, charm.

Venus in Scorpio
9 September 2018 — October 31

5 October –– Venus stations retrograde 10’50° Scorpio

Venus in Libra
31 October –– 2 December

16 November –– Venus stations direct 25’10° Libra

Venus in Scorpio
2 December 2018 — 7 January 2019

So we have already experienced a big chunk of Venus in Scorpio. Since she normally spends three weeks or so in a sign, you can see why this is an emphatic energy. And frankly, you don’t need an astrologer to point out some of the events in the news that one could associate with Venus in Scorpio.

On the day Venus turned retrograde, Nadia Murad and Dr Denis Mukwege were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for helping and advocating for wartime rape victims.

This 1500-year-old sword was found in the bottom of a lake by a little girl called Saga in Sweden. Her find was announced to the world on the day Venus went retrograde.

Supermodel Emily Ratajkowski protesting outside the White House. She was arrested later that day. This was the day Venus was stationing retrograde.

When she is in this sign, Venus becomes a she-warrior, and she often has to be brave, learning from her own experience of emotional trauma.

This year we are also at the tail end of Jupiter’s journey through this same sign — a sign which is also about trauma, memory and, eventually emotional healing. So Jupiter has put a magnifying glass over some of those memories, helped, of course, by Pluto in Capricorn.

Scorpio is also the sign that rules the genitals – to be absolutely blunt about it. You see the connection with allegations about past sexual conduct (mis and otherwise).

Zodiac Man – with the rulerships of each sign for parts of the body.

Venus is a planet that concerns herself with social relationships — and desire. Undoubtedly, some of us – particularly those with a lot of Scorpio or Taurus in the chart – will be reviewing relationships. And some of us may be diving a lot deeper, or becoming more intimate.

Last time we had this retrograde, “quantitative easing” was in full flow. That is central banks printed money to alleviate the effects of the credit crunch. QE sent stock markets soaring — and circumvented a total meltdown of the economies in Europe and North America. However, you may ask yourself whether that just kicked the can down the line, so the garbage has to be swept up later. Like, say, around now? Also, Jupiter was in Pisces in those days, and Saturn was in “balance those books” Libra. Now Jupiter is in Scorpio…

When she’s in Scorpio, can Venus turn shit into silver, a sow’s ear into a silk purse or muck into brass? Can she turn a black hole of debt into fairytale copper coins? At some point in every fairytale those coins go back to being cold dust or whatever…

I’m not a financial astrologer, but it seems possible that there may be a “correction” in the next six weeks. In any case, on a personal note, it’s not a bad idea to take a look at your own books. This is especially pertinent, because Venus’ re-entry into Libra could help bring some balance to your personal exchequer. And it’s definitely wise to be careful about what you buy.

And on that note, it’s worth looking at exactly where this retrograde falls in your chart. This is considered quite a signficant part of the entire Zodiac. This is the Via Combusta, “Burning Way“, which was ascribed all kinds of nasty by the ancient astrologers. It runs, depending on which source you trust, from around mid-Libra to mid-Scorpio. However, as is often the case with Medieval astrology, what was considered bad, deviant or just plain wrong then, is often a place of female power. This makes this an exceptionally potent part of the Venus cycle.

She moves from traditionally a most uncomfortable sign, to a most comfortable one. From anger to harmony — and then back to anger again when she goes back into Scorpio in December. But by the time that she enters that second Scorpio tour (from December 2), she will have gained some experience and some wisdom — and possibly some ammunition. She will be a warrior with plenty of arrows in her quiver, and copper in her purse.

The first day of October is shining brightly outside my window as I write this. The rose bush at the end of the garden is covered in a late flush of magenta blossoms, a dew-hung spider’s web across the window glistens with diamonds, and the birch and laurel leaves flutter, lambent with a light that seems to come from within.

I hope site members have already received your monthly horoscopes in your in-boxes. I had to finish them a little early this month because I was participating in The Goddess Weekend here in Oxford yesterday.

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And now the Sun enters Libra, the cardinal sign of autumn. Again we are at the beginning of a season. The equinox is behind us (September 23) and in the North the days will get shorter as we stumble towards the dark of winter.

Now, this autumn season is the moment when we weigh and measure the fruit from the vines and the orchards. We see what the season of growth brought forth, and we make plans for the coming months.

And these last days of sunshine are some of the most beautiful of the year with long shadows and the golden light. This is the late afternoon of the year.

Here is the chart for the start of proceedings this morning in Washington DC.

It’s absolutely stuffed with symbolism. Here are just a few of the things that jump out.

• Venus in Scorpio is rising. In fact this Venus is stationing to turn retrograde. There she is recalling the deep past. In Scorpio, Venus is uncomfortable because she has to go somewhere dark, but she’s also a warrior, Inanna.

• This is an issue of women’s rights, quite simply. Don’t forget that if Brett Kavanaugh becomes a Supreme Court judge, he will seek to make abortion illegal again. So it’s interesting to note that Lilith, the Dark Moon, who one might associate with the mother’s power to take life as well as give it, is just passing through the US South Node. And then she’s also just coming out of a conjunction with Mars that’s trining the Sun in Libra, the sign of justice.

• Meanwhile, Saturn in Capricorn, which is very powerful is making a tough square to those Libra planets. This is the establishment digging in its heels.

• The Moon was applying to conjoin Uranus in Taurus. This is about change, and changing women’s role. As my colleague Coeli Carr has pointed out it’s about the voice, ruled by Taurus. And Taurus is also about learning to listen

The US is having a nodal return right now (NN at 6° Leo). Will this be a turning point? I am sure you can dig out even more from this chart. For example, what do you make of Vesta? Among other things, she is literally the one woman hired by the Republicans on the committee to question Ms Blasey Ford.

Those of you finding this brings back your own memories, know that this is part of a Venus Retrograde process. She will be squaring the Nodes — this is pivotal.

From the left Neve Te Aroha, Clay Gayford and Jacinda Ardern at the UN.

How sweet that this round-faced baby should be our Full Moon messenger.

This Full Moon is, of course, in Aries, the sign we associate with firsts and infancy. Neve Te Aroha, born at the summer solstice to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, is the first baby to have blessed the UN General Assembly, while her mother gave a speech on peace. This picture was taken yesterday, just as the Moon was leaving Pisces and moving into the sign of the Ram.

Neve was born with the Moon in Libra, so this Full Moon is opposite to her own, while the mighty Sun is in Libra.

But there’s more. Ceres, the planet of motherhood, is also in Libra conjoining the Sun, and Mercury, the planet of speech. So Neve’s there looking at her Mum making a speech. And what is more, solid, traditionalist Saturn makes a perfect square to the Full Moon. Tradition is changed in a moment.

Note also that very Aquarian Daddy (Mars in Aquarius supporting the Libra planets), just about to conjoin the South Node. He is just as important in this as his partner and child – a man comfortable enough in his masculinity to stand up and take care of the baby.

Chiron seems to be doing a good job of healing here, too — or is he acting the maverick?

At the time, she was the most photographed woman in the world. Every dress, every jewel, every haircut was discussed in the fashion pages and even the front pages.

As you may know, there are conflicting reports of Diana, Princess of Wales’ birth time, so I was interested to hear a fellow astrologer explain how she had approached the issue – and how she reached her conclusion. The following article shows just how tricky an unreliable birth time can be to rectify.

Studying royal natal charts is particularly interesting, because exact birth times are usually available and reliable. For instance, the birth information for Louis XIV of France, has come down through history as September 5, 1638, at 11:11-11:13 am in Saint Germain-en-Laye, France. A natal chart for either birth time (with only a two minute difference) produces the same portrait of character and personality that corresponds with the person and life of the ‘Sun King.’

The importance of knowing the actual birth time (or the lack of it) used in erecting a natal chart shows with ‘the People’s Princess.’

In 1986 after five tumultuous years of marriage, Princess Diana sought the help and guidance of astrologer Penny Thornton in an effort to find solutions to her unhappiness. Diana’s exact birth time was not recorded, so the initial ‘guess time’ of 7:45 pm turned out to be wrong. Many websites today still publish this wrong natal chart based on the time of 7:45 pm, July 1, 1961 at Sandringham.

Seen over hundreds of years, the pattern of British monarchs is an emphasis of planets (and other positionings) in the the ninth and tenth houses. This oft-repeated pattern of the British monarch includes Saturn or Jupiter…. or both Saturn and Jupiter positioned in the 9th and/or 10th houses. The reliability of royal birth times…. results in accurate charts and the pattern emerges for anyone to see! Royal spouses with a profound impact on ‘the public’ also tend to have groupings of planets and positionings in the 9th and/or 10th houses.

Having been the personal astrologer to Diana…. Ms. Thornton wrote in July of 2001 on the Astrolutely.com web-site:

“When I began my association with Diana I was also working on an incorrect time of birth. It was at least a year before she said to me one day: ‘You know, Penny, I notice you’ve got my time of birth time as 7:45 pm. It wasn’t. I was born just before the start of the men’s finals at Wimbledon – about 2 pm.”

This is chart with the 7.45pm ‘guess time’, which puts a lot of emphasis on the wealth axis (second and 8th houses).

“Thus, instead of adventurous, extravagant and independent Sagittarius rising, Diana had gracious, graceful, charming and diplomatic Libra on her ascendant –– a perfect recipe for the ‘fashion icon’ that she became and her involvement with the British relationship organization Relate.”

The detail of “I was born just before the start of the men’s finals at Wimbledon – about 2 pm,” is compelling. While not an exact birth time, a specific starting place in a 24-hour period is very helpful!

The message and timing mechanisms of a 2 pm chart would be hugely different from a chart done for 7:45 pm. Ms. Thornton decided on a 2:15 pm birth time…. resulting in a Libra ascendant and it appears she continued to use that time as Diana’s astrologer.

This is the 2.30 chart that Kristianna prefers. Note the Saturn-Jupiter conjunction on the IC — growing up lonely in a huge house!

After however, doing multiple, possible natal and progressed charts (‘rectification’) with 2:00 pm as a starting point…. I suspect Diana was actually born around 2:30 pm which also gives a Libra ascendant. When the transits based on a 2:30 pm time, are applied to all Diana’s charts (natal, progressed and horary) the correlations with actual events are astounding!

Diana was an immediate ‘star’ with the Public. A natal birth chart for 2:30 pm places the Sun, Mercury, Uranus, North node, Mars and perhaps Pluto in Diana’s critical, ‘royal’ 9th and 10th houses…. which is consistent with her massive, celebrity appeal and impact on the public around the world. The results of a 2:30 pm time are extensive.

Among many examples…. significant, dated events in Princess Diana’s life correlate with the 2:30 pm birth time in a fascinating way:

1) In Diana’s natal chart: Saturn is conjunct the chart’s nadir (4th house cusp); a very unusual positioning and indicating profound and troubling challenges (Saturn) in the childhood home from the beginning of Diana’s life.

2) In Diana’s progressed chart at five to six years of age: progressed Jupiter is now conjunct the progressed 4th house cusp (mother, family, home) indicating a ‘big’ (Jupiter) change in these circumstances. Diana’s mother left the family home when Diana was six years old, leaving Diana and her siblings in their father’s custody.

3) Diana’s progressed chart at 20 years of age. The progressed Moon and Neptune are now conjunct the progressed ascendant in Scorpio (1st house cusp), indicating incredible magnetism and glamour interestingly, only three weeks before her marriage.

5) Diana’s progressed chart for her 36th birthday in 1997: August 6, 1961, 2:30 pm, Sandringham. (Note Moon in the 8th, as well as Pluto on the MC. ed)

6) Event chart for the accident: August 31, 1997 at approximately 12:25 am in Paris, France.

Again and again, starting with Diana’s birth through the day of her death, transits to critical positionings (indicating significant action) based on the 2:30 pm birth time hit ‘spot-on’ for events in her life. Especially transits over the angles of the 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th houses. By comparison, charts based on the 7:45 pm time are puzzling.

Regardless of the source, birth times need to be scrutinized. If the birth time is accurate or very close to the real time of birth, the chart’s messages and observable events in the native’s life will correlate and make sense.

Thanks to Kristianna Harris for sharing this compelling piece of research.

It’s the equinox! Hooray. One of the four corners of the year. Here, we are turning into autumn.

Sally and I met at Cliveden, a very beautiful stately home outside London, famous, or infamous, for political intrigue. That seemed appropriate for the month ahead with Venus, the planet of love, digging around in sexy, secretive Scorpio, while the Sun sails through social, polite and political Libra.

Ascendant and Sun are both at 27° Virgo — a great heart — and they make a perfect square to the MC in Gemini (a career as a wordsmith).

The two planets of art, Venus and Neptune, are also exactly conjunct too — at 12° Virgo in the 12th house of the collective soul. Cohen’s music has, arguably, now reached a wider audience even than his brilliant peers Joni Mitchell or Bob Dylan — with the incredible success of that one tune Hallelujah, reinterpreted over and over for each generation.

Then he has a boundless Pisces Moon — the poet’s Moon — opposite Neptune-Venus… Amen.

I’m writing a column for the bimonthly Infinity Astrology Magazine called Phenomena, taking a more general look at the zeitgeist. Here is my first piece.

My uncle spat into a small test-tube, sealed it, and put the test-tube in an envelope. He was, quite casually, sending off a sample of his saliva to be analysed for DNA. Who would have imagined 20 years ago that mapping the human genome would have become so commonplace.

This year, 2018, Jupiter, the planet of expansion, is in Scorpio, the sign of secrets, but also a sign associated with analysis, depth and detective work. Companies were licensed just last year to sell the DNA testing kits directly to consumers. Since then finding out your own genetic code has become quite the thing. All you have to do is send a sample of your saliva to one of the myriad companies that offers a DNA sequencing service.

Some of you may already have done this, maybe even encouraged by your doctor for health reasons.

The other planet we might look to is Pluto, of course, Scorpio’s ruler, currently in Capricorn. Pluto wears many hats. He can be capo, crime lord, detective inspector, archaeologist — in Capricorn he’s more plutocrat This year he’s been co-operating with Jupiter in Scorpio. The two of them have been sextile for much of the time. So you could say we have an investigator, Jupiter, and a businessman, Pluto, working hand-in-hand.

Capricorn is the sign of big corporations — and DNA sequencing has become big business, and it’s projected to grow even more in the next few years. DNA sequencing services make money from selling their huge collections of data to insurance and pharmaceutical companies.

Jupiter acts in funny ways. Discovering that you’re part Native American or Congolese may be a delightful surprise. But how about finding out that your father is not your father? Or that you have a secret half-sister? Quite a few of my clients this year have done the test — and come up with some unexpected results. This is thanks to the automatic matching service provided by some sites. Your DNA is matched with other samples stores by the company that seem to be close relatives. This has, to put it mildly, disrupted some people’s identities in unexpected and sometimes unpleasant ways. In fact, there’s already a Facebook support group for you if you find out you’re not who you thought you were.

You can imagine the potential complications. What was Daddy doing in 1968?

On the day the Human Genome Project was officially “completed”, April 14, 2003, the Lunar Nodes were at 00’00 degrees Gemini-Sagittarius, the axis of information. Uranus, the planet of scientific discovery, had just spent seven years in its own sign, Aquarius, as that great international project developed and grew. The HGP was a wonderful example of altruistic co-operation between scientists around the globe in the name of wissenschaft. But by April 14, 2003, Uranus had reached Pisces and was resting just past one degree of the sign of boundlessness, on the bendings of the Nodes. All that data was about to diffuse out into the world. The wheel of fate was given a spin.

This summer, Uranus, reached that same degree of practical, fiscally conservative Taurus. There will doubtless be some brilliant, practical scientific discoveries in the coming years, but also money will be made from science.

My uncle’s saliva test did have some strange results — but that is a family secret.